Monthly Archives: August 2010

Life Experiences, Social Media

iPad – it’s just AMAZING!!!

Here at The Now Bunch, we would like to consider ourselves pretty up-to-date with technology or more specifically, ‘Information Technology’ and all of the bits and pieces that revolve around hardware and software.

We have all been running iPhones for a little while now as they enable us to do SO MUCH more than anything else we used prior.  And then recently, we all became the proud owners of iPads.  Now I genuinely believed that I understood the tech that is doing the rounds at the moment, at least I thought I did right up until I was hooked in on a webinar that explained some of the things that you can do with an iPad to make better use of your time and therefore manage your business better!

I have never been a believer in ‘information for the sake of information’ and so I have been tentative in the uptake of some forms of Information Sharing and Applications that seem to bombard you with info and are therefore difficult to manage.  That was then, this is NOW (as they say).  Since receiving my iPad and then watching the webinar, I have installed a range of applications that allow me to gather MASSIVE amounts of information and more importantly they provide me with the tools I require to MANAGE that information in a timely and informative manner that is  fun, exciting, educational, developmental and USEFUL!!!  And because I actually manage the information in a tactile manner (swipes, pinches, taps, etc), I am finding that I retain a lot more than I imagined!

The age of information is well and truly upon us and so there is no point in trying to solve today’s problems with yesterday’s knowledge.  You need to remain current and informed!  The iPad enables me to do this and it does so in an efficient, easy and intuitive way.  With the introduction of our new business, Social Media Now it’s important to be current at ALL times and so the iPad enables us to do that.  I am not suggesting for a moment that there will not be alternatives to the iPad (HP; ASUS; Toshiba and others are all madly scrambling to get theirs to market – another fact I learnt via my social media applications through my iPad) and I am not here to do a sales pitch on this particular offering from Apple.  However, after just a bit over a week with my new toy and I can tell you that I have:

  • Discovered more useful info than ever before that relates to MY business (eg.  social media links and website coding plus STACKS MORE)
  • Been able to reply to clients more quickly and efficiently (eg.  whilst on the bus I managed to post an advert in response to an email confirmation)
  • Managed my time better (eg.  single calendar changes on a cloud ensure ALL my devices are totally current)
  • Remained in contact with my family that are overseas & interstate better (eg.  skyped my sister in the UAE whilst on the bus, whilst posting pictures/videos of the kids for grandma & grandpa in SA so that they can quite literally witness the kids growing up as it happens)
  • Caught up on all my latest sports news in approximately 15 minutes that would normally take me a couple of hours through a new app [Reeder – in case you are interested] – (eg.  the world of Formula 1 via blogs/posts/SM/RSS feeds)
  • Taught myself all there is to know amount about Social Media and how to quickly and easily find and read relevant information (eg.  provided our IT Geek with coding that I was told about through a random website that generates information for ME based on my likes and dislikes)
  • Remained in contact with a range of clients during ‘down-time’ (eg.  emailed people that I had been in touch with for a while whilst I was sitting in the Physio’s waiting room)
  • Started reading a ‘self-help’ book that I downloaded

I could go on and on and on and on (some of you may feel like I already have)!  But I won’t as I might burst from the excitement (which wouldn’t be pretty…………….ok, ok!  which would be even LESS pretty)….

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I can honestly say that the iPhone has been the single biggest change in regards to my personal use of technology and I reckon it pales in to insignificance next to my iPad as this has become both a personal AND a professional necessity!!!  My gut feel is that I have not even scratched the surface of what I will be able to do on it and with the onslaught of cloud computing (Google it if you haven’t heard the term), the opportunities are endless.

So, the technology is here to stay.  That’s a given………

the question is……………are YOU???

Life Experiences, Uncategorized, Values

Lessons for Leaders – How we live our lives !

 

Journey to the Blue Road

The sheep station where I spent my childhood was a three hour drive from the nearest town over dusty unsealed roads. The town had nine hotels and two grocery stores, and we only went there every six weeks or so to stock up on our supplies. Living in such a remote area meant we needed to be self-sufficient and resilient. We had a vegetable garden, sheep and cattle for our meat, and we kept hens for eggs.

Every year, we would order our hens from the city poultry farmers. They were only young, not much more than a year old, and were already considered “burnt out” by the egg farmers. We would order four dozen at a time – for about 20 cents (1 or 2 rand) a chicken!

We would drive the three hours into town and pick them up from the rail depot. They were transported in large cardboard cartons with little air holes cut out. We’d bring them back home, tie the dogs up, and open the boxes.

 Out would fall the most bedraggled creatures we had ever seen. They were often featherless, their crests pale and shabby and their claws overgrown. They had spent their entire lives inside a cage in tin sheds under intense 24 hour artificial lighting, and were expected to lay to maximum capacity – sometimes two eggs per day.

They had never seen the sunshine or felt the earth beneath their feet. Some of them even had their beaks removed to prevent them from pecking their eggs. We let them out into the yard to learn how to be chooks – to pick at the green weeds, scratch for worms and bugs, and cluck at each other. After only a couple of weeks, their crests became a deeper, healthier red, their feathers grew back, and they even “walked taller”.

The most amazing thing was that they started to lay eggs again.

When we create environments that focus on who we are, that allow us to express our values and nourish us, then our natural talents and energy are released. The impossible becomes possible, and results exceed expectations.

By focusing on the who – allowing them to be the best they could be, the “what” came naturally. Of course they would lay eggs – that’s what hens do. So instead of saying “now go off and lay lots of eggs”, we let them rediscover how to be real chickens – and laying eggs was a natural consequence.

How often in workplaces do we ask our people to lay more eggs – turn the lights up, increase performance, keep producing – with the threat of replacement if they slow down?  If we focus more on the nurturing of our people, providing the environment that allows them to be the best they can be, then the natural consequence is for them to do whatever it is they do. Trust that if they are healthy, stimulated, encouraged, and believed in, you will have all the eggs you need!

Organisations, governments, and individual consumers pour millions of dollars into working out ways to lay more eggs – bigger, cheaper, faster, quicker, more! We are constantly offered tools and gadgets that are supposed to make our lives better, yet we become involved in a cycle of replacing the unnecessary to do the necessary, and we lose the ability and sometimes even the knowledge of doing things for ourselves. Tools that are supposed designed to “make it easier” have made us less productive, and many people are burnt out, exhausted, tired, sad, depressed. In order to shift the focus from maximizing egg production to cultivating healthy and happy chickens, we have to challenge the assumptions and beliefs that have created our current situations.

 It is not about being a better leader, which suggests that you have something “missing”, it is about recognising the qualities that already reside within you, and allowing yourself the courage to peel away the masks and layers to reveal the infinite creative energy of your real Self.  The most courageous journey is the “inner journey” of self awareness.

 By embracing and expressing the qualities that reside within, we develop comfort with ambiguity, confidence in uncertainty, and a willingness to celebrate diversity.

A leader is a person who serves through being trustworthy, inspirational and passionate. Leadership is not about role, position, salary, or authority. It is an innate quality in everyone, and leaders are at all levels of the community, family, and work place.

We lead how we live, and how we live our life is the way we leave the world.

Welcome to our guest Blogger – Karynne Courts from Values Connection who has donated her time to Blog for you some great lessons. 

(Source: Karynne Courts, Values Connection (see www.valuesconnection.com.au for more inspirational stuff  or to purchase the book – Journey to the Blue Road … an amazing book by an amazing person!!)